Kolkata, March 18 – A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday questioned whether it was also the responsibility of the West Bengal government, along with the Election Commission of India (ECI), to ensure free, fair, and violence-free elections in the state.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, raised the question during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Samik Bhattacharya, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's West Bengal unit and a Rajya Sabha member, seeking the court's intervention to ensure 100 per cent booth-level security in the upcoming state Assembly elections next month.
As the matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, Advocate General Kishor Datta, appearing for the state government, argued that the ECI, being an autonomous body, should not blindly follow the instructions of the Union government in this matter.
"The petitioner in this case is the state president of the ruling party at the Centre, which is also the principal opposition party in West Bengal. Therefore, it is natural to think that the Union government has filed this PIL through him," Datta argued.
Following this, the division bench questioned whether it was the responsibility of the state government, along with the ECI, to ensure free, fair, and violence-free elections in the state.
Additional Solicitor General Ashok Chakraborty objected to the observation by the Advocate General that the PIL had been filed by a leader of a political party allegedly acting in tandem with both the ECI and the Union government.
"The state government has insulted the ECI and the central government. Please record this," the Additional Solicitor General submitted before the court.
The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for March 20.
West Bengal will go to the polls in two phases on April 23 and April 29. In the first phase, polling will be held for 152 Assembly constituencies, and in the second phase, for 142 constituencies.